HE WAS the bright-eyed child actor who stole the hearts of moviegoers around the world in Baz Luhrmann's epic Australia.

But Brandon Walters is growing up fast.

The Broome native, now 16, stars in the ABC's new teen series Bushwhacked!, in which Walters acts as a travel companion and cultural guide for ABC3 presenter Kayne Tremills.

The pair travel everywhere from Lamington National Park in south-east Queensland to Bruny Island off Tasmania in their search for wildlife adventures.

Walters tells The Guide about his first television show.

QTell me about working with Kayne, was he up for most of the challenges you gave him?

A Yes, Kayne is up for everything - he's even up for coming to Broome so I can take him out to the bush and go fishing and hunting and even feed him goanna.

Q How did you decide what things you would ask him to do in each episode? Some of the challenges sound pretty exciting.

A It was up to the producers but I liked all the missions. My favourite was challenging Kayne to swim with a great white shark. That was awesome!

QWhich were your favourite places you visited in this series and why?

A So many places. Heron Island was incredible and reminded me of home in WA - white sand, warm water, the reef, the blue sky. Arnhem Land and Papunya in the Central Desert reminded me of Aboriginal communities out West. In Papunya I was mobbed by the local kids who wanted me to sign their T-shirts.

Q What are some of the main aspects of Aboriginal culture you wanted to share with Kayne and the show's viewers?

A I just wanted to be able to show how strong and rich Aboriginal culture is, but also how different it is in each place. There are hundreds of Aboriginal tribes and each one is different. My tribe is Nyangumatra and while all Aboriginal people share history, we are also all quite different.